Italy News: 03.15. 09

The Italian government is still trying to force all bloggers in Italy to get official state licenses. The legislation would require ISPs to block any website the government decided was inapproprite, for any reason. As Beppe Grillo points out, “Today, this only happens in China. In a dictatorship.” If you’re a blogger, Italian bloggers are asking for your support – send in your photo with the words “FREE BLOGGER” in the image.

Archaeologists digging through one of the mass graves used to bury plague victims of the 17th century on an island in the Venice lagoon have found what they say is the skeleton of a woman who was believed to be a vampire – someone who was, they thought at the time, spreading the deadly disease. How do the archaeologists know this woman was thought to be a vampire? A brick was pushed into the dead woman’s mouth before she was buried, as it was believed this would keep the “vampire” from feeding on other people.

If you think the ancient Romans were all Latin seriousness, think again. The recent discovery of a 4th century joke book reveals that not only did they enjoy a good laugh, but many of the classic jokes we know and love today have much older origins than one might have guessed.

What happens when you’re a gondolier in Venice who hasn’t been paying your taxes and who then goes through a messy divorce? Why, your jilted ex-wife goes to the Italian tax police to let them know they’re owed a bit more euro than you’ve been forking over. Oh, and by the way, this leads to them finding out that several gondoliers are doing it. Yeah, you’re probably not the most popular gondolier in Venice anymore.

I wouldn’t have thought that Tuscany needed a multi-million dollar ad campaign to try to get anyone to visit, but evidently the region wants to be more popular with young travelers and not just the middle-aged folks chasing their “Under the Tuscan Sun” dream. It’ll be interesting to see what that $21 million gets them.

Thanks to Italofile, we learn about a new tourism website the tourism office in Tuscany has put together. And while it’s lovely, and well worth checking out, it makes me wonder… If they’re trying to get more people to visit (a la the $21 million ad campaign mentioned above), and they launch a new fab website, wouldn’t you think they’d tell people about it?

And if you’d like to ride the first few stages of the Giro – all while raising money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation – then the “Giretto” d’Italia is what you’re looking for.

As touristy as the site is (and as totally non-authentic), you can now do more than just visit “Juliet’s Balcony” in Verona – you can get married there.

Since I’m always going on about how much I like my Italian soccer boyfriend, I thought it only fair to mention the husband’s Italian girlfriend – especially since she just appeared in the news. Heart-stoppingly gorgeous Italian actress Monica Bellucci just received a World Actress Award from the Women’s World Awards organization.

The Italian government has been talking about building a bridge from the mainland to Sicily for years, and it’s back on the discussion table. If it’s actually built (I’m not holding my breath), it’ll be the longest bridge of its kind in the world.

If you’re planning a trip to Rome next weekend, be aware that the Rome Marathon is on March 22nd – so you may find that getting around the city is a bit challenging. On the other hand, it’s a great opportunity to cheer on the runners!

There will be no more confusion about where your olive oil comes from if the EU has anything to say about it. Starting July 1, all bottles of virgin and extra virgin will have to have their country of origin clearly marked.

In the ongoing murder trial in Perugia, the latest news from the courtroom is that one of the kids suspected of killing Meredith Kercher had a “long” knife in his pocket when he was being questioned at the police station following Kercher’s death, and the other defendent “looked nervous and repeatedly hit her head with her hands.”

One of my favorite daily emails comes from Italian Notebook, and one from last week was just so cute I had to share it with you. It’s an attempt at a Q&A session with a bunch of octogenarian Italian women which, as you’ll see, goes off in all kinds of directions along the way.

Attention travelers – the European Commission has okay’d the sale of Alitalia, which will evidently involve breaking up the airline into smaller bite-sized portions. We’ll see if that makes the frequency of strikes go down at all.

One of the statues in the open-air loggia next to the Piazza della Signoria in Florence was found missing a finger last weekend. Thankfully, the fallen digit was located nearby and has been sent to an art restoration house to be reattached. But still. I hope this doesn’t lead to fencing that fantastic open gallery off from visitors.

Italian actor Roberto Benigni will be taking his Dante show, a combination of readings from the “Divine Comedy” and satire, on the road – to Paris, London, and Germany (among other places) before hitting the U.S. at the end of May. The cities he’ll be hitting in the U.S. are New York, Boston, Miami, and Chicago. You’ll find more on the tour’s official site (in Italian).